Friends Form Winning Combination

3 Of 4 Buddies Played In Nn

September 28, 1989|By ALAN HIRSCH Staff Writer

When Kennedy Bland, Rodney Grainger, Ricky Drum and Jeff Allen get together, things just seem to get done - especially on the baseball field.

The foursome was a cornerstone of Bethel High School's junior varsity and 1988 varsity Peninsula District championship baseball teams, helped American Legion Post 281 win the district title last year and were members of the national champion North Carolina Wesleyan baseball team.

In addition, three of the four played for the Summer Collegiate Eastern Zone champion Gashouse Gang out of Newport News this season.

The foursome worked for Legion coach Lanny Franklin's Commercial Roofing-USA firm this summer, as well.

"You could see they would progress and make a contribution to their college team, wherever they went," Bethel High Coach Skip Bouchard says. "They played together in Little League, Senior League and right on up."

Grainger still had a year of eligibility left with the Legion program this summer, so he did not play for the Newport News team. He was also red-shirted this season at N.C. Wesleyan due to a shoulder problem.

Allen also has had an injury limit his playing. He hurt his shoulder pitching his first game for Gashouse Gang and did not play the rest of the summer.

Allen left his job at Commercial Roofing and worked several weeks over the summer helping with the reconstruction of Hampton's Darling Stadium.

For the most part, however, the Hampton friends have been together.

"We've all grown up together, went to the same middle school (Jeff Davis) and high school," Allen explains. Going to the same college, "I thought at first it would be, well not strange, but you want to meet new people.

"But once we got out to practice, it was like high school again. It was like one big family, almost."

Like Allen, Kennedy Bland also pitched for N.C. Wesleyan.

"At first when we got to college, it was easy for us because we didn't have to make friends," Bland says. "We've been pretty close. We all stay together in the same dorm."

"It made it a lot easier on me and all of us to make the team," says Drum, a second baseman. "We had a little group, the four of us. When we went to try out, we were not as nervous because we knew what each of us could do. We just had to show the coach (Mike Fox)."

They didn't plan to all go to N.C. Wesleyan.

"Jeff was the first one," Grainger explains. "He actually signed a note of intention to go there. The coach came to see Jeff in a game and saw Kennedy play in high school. Then, he came to see Kennedy play during Legion, and he saw Ricky and me."

Though he played outfield in high school, Grainger has been shifted to pitcher at N.C. Wesleyan. The Bishops took the NCAA Division III title with a 33-11-1 record.